The LoHud Yankees Blog

Now that’s a way to start the postseason.

What a rally by the Twins, who took full advantage of a Tigers team that should have locked up the division a week ago and then won one of the best elimination games you’ll ever see.

If you’re a Yankees fan, here’s what’s good: The Twins probably won’t get to New York until sometime early tomorrow morning; they’ve burned a ton of pitchers and will be using a bullpen that’s basically in pieces; their best player, Joe Mauer, just caught 12 innings of high-pressure baseball and will sit on a plane for three hours before getting to sleep.

Here’s what’s bad: The Twins are the hottest team in baseball; they’ve got karma, momentum, mojo or whatever you want to call it on their side (how many times did Detroit look like they’d won it?); they’ve got – gasp! – Carl Pavano.

UPDATE, 9:56 p.m.: TBS just said that Brian Duensing is the Twins Game 1 starter. His stats are here.

You have to give the Yankees credit, they gave us more information today than we might have expected.

The upcoming rotation is set, Jose Molina is catching A.J. Burnett, and there’s only one roster spot that remains up in the air. There was nothing was especially shocking about the news, but at least it’s concrete information from a day that might have been little more than stock quotes about waiting to make decisions.

The last roster decision revolves around a third catcher (Cervelli), a second pinch runner (Guzman) or an 11th pitcher (perhaps Marte is the guy on the fence as a second lefty). The Yankees can carry two of those three, and when Joe Girardi was asked about carrying the second pinch runner he said, “That would depend on 10 or 11 pitchers,” which suggests Cervelli will make the postseason roster, leaving the final spot between Guzman and a pitcher.

We’ll know the final decision sometime tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, we’ve pushed the live chat up to noon because Sam and I need to get to the stadium earlier than expected for Girardi’s pregame media session. Also, tomorrow we’ll have John Flaherty’s analysis of the pitching matchups.

See you then.

Update: Twelve innings. Are you kidding me? If you’re a Tigers fan, how do you feel about Ryan Raburn right now?  That was a nice throw to keep it tied, but he really botched that lead-off base hit. By the way, as I’m typing this, Don Kelly is hitting for Detroit. I believe I voted for him for the International League all-star team three months ago.

Update: Fernando Rodney had pitched two innings only three times this season, and never more than two. He might have pitched a bit too much tonight.

3:00 p.m. Gates Open to the Public

3:10 p.m.-4:20 p.m. Yankees Hit

4:20 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Visitors Hit

5:42 p.m. Baseline Introductions

5:52 p.m. Giant Flag Introduction: West Point Cadets

5:53 p.m. Presentation of Colors: West Point Honor Guard

5:54 p.m. National Anthem: New York Pops Brass

5:58 p.m. Ceremonial First Pitch: Admiral Eric Olson, Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command

6:02 p.m. Umpires and Managers to Home Plate

6:05 p.m. Yankees Take the Field

6:07 p.m. First Pitch

The Tigers have a 3-1 lead in the third inning of the Who-Plays-The-Yankees play-in game, after getting a two-run homer from ever-friendly Miguel Cabrera. If you want to follow the game, check out this live blog from our friends at the Detroit Free-Press.

Joe Girardi just announced that the Yankees will take the series that starts tomorrow and that A.J. Burnett will start Game 2. More soon.

UPDATE, 4:33 p.m.: Girardi said he did not consult Burnett before making the decision. “I did not talk to A.J. about that. That was a decision I made – as a manager, you have to make some tough decisions and that was a very tough one.”

Girardi also said that he expects Matsui to be the DH in those games, though the match-up could change that. Audio coming soon.

UPDATE, 4:36 p.m.: Girardi did not announce his entire roster for the division series but said that Brian Bruney, Sergio Mitre and Ramiro Pena will go to Tampa to work out and stay sharp.

UPDATE, 4:42 p.m.: Here’s the audio from Girardi, who finished only moments ago.

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UPDATE, 4:52 p.m.: (Josh here) A disappointed Bruney was surprised to hear he wouldn’t be selected for the ALDS roster. After arm troubles and a shaky four months in general, he had allowed just three earned runs in his last 20 appearances (18.1 IP), dating back to Aug. 7. “I thought I did enough,” Bruney said before cutting the Q & A short.

UPDATE, 4:56 p.m.: Reading between the lines, it seems like there are, at most, two roster spots still questionable. One would be Cervelli, though I’m pretty convinced that with Molina starting a game Girardi will want a third catcher. So count him in. The last spot, then, would seem to be between a lefty (likely Marte) and a second pinch-runner (Guzman). One would think that if the Twins win, the Yankees will take Marte since Minnesota has more lefties. If the Tigers win, Guzman makes it.

The Yankees don’t have to make any official announcement on their roster until tomorrow morning.

First thing I learned during my first day on the job: The 4 train goes to the stadium. The 5 train does not.

I got to see a little more of the city than I expected this morning, but I ultimately got to the park in plenty of time for the Yankees workout day, which seems as good a day as any to say hello.

I’m Chad. I’ve been in Scranton for a little more than six years, and after a few days spent packing and searching for a place to live, I’m thrilled to be back at work. I’m sure we’ll get to know one another a little better through the coming days and months, but for now, please know that I’m happy to be here and look forward to being a part of this community. I’ve followed the Lohud blog for years and hope to keep up the information flowing with Sam and Josh.

A few things I noticed in the clubhouse this afternoon…

• The Yankees haven’t announced an active roster for the first round, but 30 players still have a name plate on their lockers. That likely means a group of five extra players traveling with the Yankees through the playoffs.

• Among the players who still have a locker in the clubhouse: Francisco Cervelli, Freddy Guzman, Ramiro Pena and Sergio Mitre. Among the players who do not: Edwar Ramirez, Jonathan Albaladejo, Mark Melancon and Shelley Duncan.

• Derek Jeter was the first player surrounded by media. It amazes me how good he is at answering every question without saying anything remotely controversial. We’ve all seen it happen on television, and I’ve seen it happen a few times in person, but he really does find a million ways to say, “I don’t care who we play in the first round.”

• Brett Gardner does not expect to start in the playoffs.

• Phil Hughes has shaved. The first thing I said to him was that he had the worse mustache I’d ever seen, to which he laughed. “The worse the better,” he said. Hughes shaved the thing last night. “It was starting to get irritating,” he said.

Sam and Josh had the breaking news of Jose Molina starting ahead of Jorge Posada at least once this series. I have the breaking news of Phil Hughes’ facial hair.

It’s nice to pull my weight on my first day.

Jorge Posada just revealed that Joe Girardi told him on Sunday that Jose Molina will catch A.J. Burnett in this series.

UPDATE, 1:36 p.m.: We’ll have audio (hopefully) from Posada uploaded shortly. “I just hope we win that game,” Posada said. “That’s all I’ve got to say.”

He added, “It’s not like I didn’t see it coming.”

When asked if he might be the DH when Molina catches, Posada said he wasn’t sure but that, “Matsui is our DH.”

UPDATE, 1:40 p.m.: (Josh here) The Posada audio – the Molina stuff is a few minutes in:

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UPDATE, 1:50 p.m.: The team is in a meeting right now and will be on the field closer to 2:30 p.m. Girardi, CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira will have press conferences near the end of the workout.

Just a quick review of some important times for today:

1:30 p.m.: Yankees team meeting
2 p.m.: Yankees workout on the field
3:45 p.m.: Workout over
5:07 p.m.: First pitch in Twins-Tigers play-in game (on TBS)
1 hour after play-in game ends: Yankees must tell MLB which series schedule they select

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Don’t forget, we’ll have a live video chat featuring Chad Jennings and me tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. Get pumped up for the game! Be sure to check it out here.

As we wait for the Yankees to make the final decision on their ALDS roster, I found myself thinking back to some of the players who made cameos for the Yankees during the 2009 season.

Here’s the list of all players who played in at least one game this year. In all, the Yankees used 45 different players to get them through 162 games. Remember when the bullpen featured Jose Veras and Edwar Ramirez? Remember when Cody Ransom was the answer at third base while Alex Rodriguez rehabbed? Remember the Angel Berroa jokes?

It’s amazing to think of all the people it took to get the Yankees to this point in the season. Sometimes the little pieces in the puzzle can be nearly as important as the big ones.